- Former Co-CEO Adi Mohanty to Aid in
Transition and Continue to Serve on the Boards of Asterias and
OncoCyte
- Former Co-CEO Michael West to Focus on
AgeX CEO Responsibilities
BioTime, Inc. (NYSE American: BTX), a clinical-stage
biotechnology company focused on degenerative diseases, today
announced that the Board of Directors has implemented a new
leadership structure under which Brian Culley has been appointed as
the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and as a member of its Board
of Directors, effective September 17, 2018. Mr. Culley succeeds
Co-CEOs Adi Mohanty and Dr. Michael West.
“We are excited to be able to benefit from Brian’s experience
and simultaneously transition to a single CEO as we further
position the company for success,” said Alfred Kingsley, BioTime’s
Chairman of the Board. “The Board of Directors and management team
offer our deepest appreciation to both Adi and Mike for the
extensive contributions they made to the growth and development of
the Company,” Mr. Kingsley added.
Mr. Culley is an experienced public biopharmaceutical company
CEO, having served in that capacity for seven years at Mast
Therapeutics, which merged in 2017 with Savara, Inc. (NASDAQ:
SVRA). His broad experience includes the clinical development of
pharmaceutical products from research through Phase 3, corporate
partnering, institutional capital raising, and numerous other
activities. Mr. Culley’s earlier positions include leadership roles
in business development and technology transfer and as an early
discovery researcher for Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX). Mr.
Culley received a B.S. in biology from Boston College, a Masters in
biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of
California Santa Barbara, and an M.B.A. from The Johnson School at
Cornell University.
Mr. Mohanty stated, “since I joined BioTime, we have advanced
our platform science to develop product candidates in mid- and
late-stage clinical trials and unlocked value from strategic
transactions such as our recently-announced $43 million sale of
AgeX Therapeutics shares to Juvenescence. The execution of our
strategy has created a leaner and better-capitalized company,
poised to build substantial value for our shareholders through
further focus on clinical progress. This is an excellent time to
evolve our leadership structure, which we have done by recruiting
an industry veteran with significant experience leading
clinical-stage companies. This change will also allow me the
opportunity to pursue career opportunities closer to my family in
Southern California. I look forward to working with Brian and the
Board during our transition period.”
Dr. West will now be the full-time CEO of AgeX. AgeX and
BioTime will continue their close connection through the structure
of their licenses and contracts. Dr. West added, “the
pluripotent stem cell platform allows, for the first time in the
history of medicine, the potential to manufacture all of the
cellular building blocks of the human body on an industrial scale.
AgeX will take the lead in developing new applications targeting
human aging, including use in age-related metabolic disorders,
vascular aging, and the emerging field of induced tissue
regeneration.”
Mr. Culley concluded, “I am excited for the opportunity to build
upon the strong foundation created by Mike, Adi, and the rest of
the BioTime team. As the Company expands the scope of its product
candidates, I look forward to contributing my experience running
large clinical trials, collaborating with patient and advocacy
groups, and creating value through business development initiatives
and shareholder awareness campaigns. I aspire for BioTime to lead
the way in the translation of cellular therapies into approved
treatments for a wide range of serious diseases and
conditions.”
Required disclosure regarding incentive stock options
BioTime has entered into an employment agreement with Mr.
Culley. As part of his employment agreement, he will receive
non-qualified stock options. On September 17, 2018 (the “Grant
Date”), the Board granted Mr. Culley a non-qualified stock option
to purchase 1,500,000 of the Company’s common shares with an
exercise price equal to $2.31 per share (the closing price per
share of the Company's common stock as reported on the NYSE on the
Grant Date) as a material inducement to his hiring as President and
Chief Executive Officer of the Company (the “Option”).
This grant was made outside of the terms of the Company’s 2012
Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, and was approved by the
independent members of the Board in reliance on the employment
inducement exemption to shareholder approval provided under the New
York Stock Exchange's Listed Company Manual Rule 303A.08, which
requires public announcement of inducement awards. Subject to Mr.
Culley’s continued service with the Company, 25% of the shares
under the Option will vest and become exercisable on the 12 month
anniversary of the start date, and the balance of the shares under
the option will vest and become exercisable in 36 equal monthly
installments at the end of each one-month period thereafter.
About BioTime, Inc.
BioTime is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused
on degenerative diseases. Its clinical programs are based on two
platform technologies: cell replacement and cell/drug delivery.
With its cell replacement platform, BioTime is producing
new cells and tissues with its proprietary pluripotent cell
technologies. These cells and tissues are developed to replace
those that are either rendered dysfunctional or lost due to
degenerative diseases or injuries. BioTime’s cell/drug delivery
programs are based upon its proprietary HyStem® cell and drug
delivery hydrogel matrix technology. HyStem® was designed, in
part, to provide for the transfer, retention and/or engraftment of
cellular replacement therapies. HyStem® is a unique hydrogel
that has been shown to support cellular attachment and
proliferation in vivo. Current research at leading medical
institutions has shown that HyStem® is compatible with a wide
variety of cells and tissue types including brain, bone, skin,
cartilage, vascular and heart tissues. Due to the unique
cross-linking chemistry, HyStem® hydrogels have the ability to
mix cells, biologics and small molecule drugs and can be injected
or applied as a gel which allows the hydrogel to conform to a
cavity or space. This property of HyStem® hydrogels offers
several distinct advantages over other hydrogels, including the
possibility of combining bioactive materials with the hydrogel at
the point of use. BioTime is also developing
HyStem® for the delivery of therapeutic drugs and cells to
localized areas of the body, including for sustained drug release
in the targeted anatomical sites. BioTime’s lead cell delivery
clinical program is Renevia®, which consists of
HyStem® combined with the patient's own adipose (fat) derived
tissue or cells. Renevia® met its primary endpoint in an EU
pivotal clinical trial for the treatment of facial lipoatrophy in
HIV patients in 2017. BioTime has submitted
Renevia® for CE Mark approval in the EU. There were no device
related serious adverse events reported to date. BioTime’s lead
cell replacement product candidate is OpRegen®, a retinal pigment
epithelium transplant therapy, which is in a Phase I/IIa
multicenter clinical trial for the treatment of dry age-related
macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the
developed world. There have been no unexpected serious adverse
events reported to date. BioTime also has significant
equity holdings in two publicly traded companies, Asterias
Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AST)
and OncoCyte Corporation (NYSE American: OCX), and a
private company, AgeX Therapeutics, Inc.
BioTime common stock is traded on the NYSE American and
TASE under the symbol BTX. For more information, please
visit www.biotime.com or connect with the company
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube,
and Google+.
To receive ongoing BioTime corporate communications,
please click on the following link to join the Company’s email
alert list: http://news.biotime.com.
About AgeX Therapeutics
AgeX Therapeutics, Inc., an affiliate of BioTime, Inc. (NYSE
American: BTX), is a biotechnology company focused on the
development of novel therapeutics for age-related degenerative
disease. The company’s mission is to apply the proprietary
technology platform related to telomerase-mediated cell immortality
and regenerative biology to address a broad range of diseases of
aging. The current preclinical development efforts include two
cell-based therapies derived from telomerase-positive pluripotent
stem cells and two product candidates derived from the company’s
proprietary induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR™) technology.
AGEX-BAT1 and AGEX-VASC1 are cell-based approaches in the
preclinical stage of development comprised of young regenerative
cells modified using the Company’s UniverCyte™ technology
facilitating immune tolerance, formulated in HyStem® matrix,
designed to correct metabolic imbalances in aging and to restore
vascular support in ischemic tissues respectively. AGEX-iTR1547 is
a drug-based formulation in preclinical development intended to
restore regenerative potential in a wide array of aged tissues
afflicted with degenerative disease using the company’s proprietary
iTR technology. Renelon™ is a first-generation iTR product designed
to promote scarless tissue repair which the Company plans to
initially develop as a topically-administered device for commercial
development through a 510(k) application. In addition to the
product candidates in early development, the company, through its
LifeMap subsidiary, currently markets genomic interpretation
algorithms. In addition, the company, through its ESI BIO division,
markets Cytiva®, comprised of PSC-derived heart muscle cells used
in screening drugs for efficacy and safety.
For more information, please visit www.agexinc.com or
connect with the company
on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180918005316/en/
BioTime Investor and Media Contact:David Nakasone,
510-871-4188Dnakasone@biotime.comOrMedia Contact for
AgeX:Gotham Communications, LLCBill Douglass,
646-504-0890bill@gothamcomm.com
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